協力：キャノンマーケティングジャパン株式会社
Supported by Canon Marketing Japan Inc.

坂野充学は、ロンドンでファインアートを学んだ後に帰国、3331 Arts Chiyoda の運営に携わりながら、作家活動を続けてきた。2008年より、伝承をテーマにしたプロジェクトに取り組んできた坂野は、やがて自身が生まれ育った石川県白山市鶴来（旧鶴来町）へとたどり着く。地元の蔵を改修したスタジオを構え、鶴来内外の協力者を募りプロジェクトチームを形成し、実に4 年がかりで完成させたのが本作「VISIBLE BREATH」である。

生活に溶け込んだ地元の祭りや風習、文化。当然のように受け入れ、自身の体に染み込んだそれらは、一体どこからきたものなのだろうか。こうした疑問から時代を遡り、同地での文化形成の記憶を紐解いていくなかで、地元の民俗学研究者・村西博二※との出会いが制作活動に大きな影響を与えた。地元の民俗学“研究者”である村西が語る物語は、鶴来という地域を超えて日本の神話、渡来人のルーツなど数千年の歴史に及ぶスケールを持つ魅力的な“フィクション”だった。

本作では、村西の語りや伝承、坂野自身のフィールドワークをもとに、古代から現代まで5つの異なる時間軸でそれぞれの物語が展開される。渡来してきた者たち、製鉄文化の伝播、神秘的な自然の変化など、5 つのスクリーンに映し出される物語は「現代／未来」に照応され、ときに呼応しながら進んでいく。豊かな自然に育まれ、また白山信仰のもと海と山を繋ぐ交易の街として栄えてきた鶴来。習わしや文化は受け継がれ、変容し、時を超えていく。その“息づかい”を感じ、営みの軌跡をたどることで、土地、人、時が交わり、重なり合う。それらが織りなす多層的な世界から聞こえてくる息づかいに、私たちは何を想像し、どのような物語を語り継いでいくのだろうか。

※ 村西博二（むらにし・はくじ）
石川県白山市鶴来在住の民俗学研究者。大陸文化の色濃い古代能登、一時代を画した白山信仰、郷土の古代を中心に研究を行う。また、地域の歴史・文化・自然・伝統・民俗・産業などを紹介し、精神的・経済的活性化を図る活動を行っている。

Since returning to Japan after his studies in Fine Art in London and joining the management of 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Mitsunori Sakano has continued to pursue his artistic practice. Having produced various projects upon the theme of the handing down of tradition since 2008, his trail has led back to his birthplace of Tsurugi (for merly Tsurugicho), Hakusan city in Ishikawa Prefecture. Renovating a local rice store house into a studio and gathering a project team from Tsurugi and beyond, the result of 4 years' work has culminated here in "VISIBLE BREATH".

The local festivals, customs, and culture which pervade everyday life；these elements which have come to saturate our very bodies, and have been naturally accepted - where have they come from? Starting from this question and reaching back into the past, it was during his search for memories of the shaping of the land's culture that he encountered the researcher of folklore Hakuji Muranishi*, bringing a significant impact upon Sakano's creative practice. The stories of this local folklore "researcher" reach beyond Tsurugi to encompass the myths of the whole of Japan, tales of the roots of settlers from overseas, a grand "fiction" taking on a history of several thousand years.

This work, based upon the tales of Muranishi, folklore legends and personal fieldwork, develops a series of stories following through five different ages from the ancient past to the present. Migrant settlers, the spread of the culture of iron production, the changes of a mystic nature; here these stories presented upon 5 screens continue to evolve as they correspond with and at times hail to "present／future". Tsurugi, born of such rich nature, is a trading town which has prospered between the sea and mountains, and which is held sacred in local belief. Customs and culture are inherited, transform and reach beyond time. This 'breath' can be sensed here, and in tracing the trajectory of these workings, the land, people, and time itself builds layer upon layer. And in that breath, woven from a multilayered world, what is it that we imagine, and what form of story shall we continue to tell?

* Hakuji Muranishi
Folklore researcher and resident of Tsurugi, Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture. Muranishi is engaged in the research of the Noto peninsula, rich in its colourful continental culture, the local Hakusan beliefs which defined an age, and local ancient history. His pursuits introduce local history, culture, nature, traditions, folklore and industry, engaging in an activity which sets out to activate the area both spiritually and economically.